Larsson’s overtime goal gives Gulls win over Reign

The San Diego Gulls tried to give one away Friday night to Ontario at a sold-out Valley View Casino Center, but the Reign just wouldn’t take it.

Jacob Larsson scored his second goal of the season at 1 minute, 20 seconds of overtime to give the Gulls (27-20-3-1) a 5-4 victory over Ontario (30-19-1-0).

“It feels good,” Larsson told the media afterwards. “I think that we had an OK game, but I think we could have been better in some parts, but overall I think it was a solid game. It was nice to get a win.

“It was big for us to be able to come back after (losing the lead). We had a tough third period when they scored two goals on us in two or three minutes so it was great to get stronger from that and keep going.”

Gulls coach Dallas Eakins liked what he saw most of the game.

“It was certainly a roller-coaster ride there at the end,” Eakins said. “As always, a hard-fought game with Ontario. They are a very good team, a very well-coached team. It is one of those games, I don’t care if we are up by three or four goals, you are never out of a game when you are playing those guys.”

The Gulls had 3-2 lead midway through the third period when the Reign struck for two goals within 1:42 to take a 4-3 advantage.

However, San Diego’s Andy Welinski scored his ninth goal of the season at 16:01 to force the overtime.

“I was super excited about our bench,” said Eakins. “When a team does that to you and gets two quick goals, a lot of times your bench becomes a little bit deflated. Our guys were up and they were very confident. I think that says a lot about our group right now.”

In the extra period, Larsson took a pass from Sam Carrick to bury the winning goal and send the crowd home happy. It was the 23rd assist on the season for Carrick, who opened the scoring at 6:35 of the first period with his 13th goal.

Ontario tied it up less than three minutes later before Mike Liambas notched his third goal of the season for a 2-1 advantage.

Again, a little over four minutes later, the Reign had it at 2-2 at the end of the first period.

The second period was a little less offensive, but Welinski scored at 10:12 to give the Gulls a 3-2 advantage heading into the final period.

“Having a tight game, almost playoff style like that, that’s going to go back-and-forth,” Welinski told the media afterward. “I think it’s good, a good learning piece. It’s good to see that we can stick with it all the way through.”

The Gulls were outshot 45-24 as San Diego goalie Reto Berra made 41 saves to get the victory.

Eakins gave a lot of credit to the sold-out crowd for the win.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “I know there is such a great party atmosphere up in the crowd. They are excited, they are loud. I just wish they could feel what it feels like to be on the bench and more importantly on the ice. It is just such a huge boost of energy to our players. Even after we went down by a goal, they were all still behind us. It is such a positive influence on our team and I think that’s a big component to us coming back (Friday).”

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